pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
Gavin Ewart
Gavin Buchanan Ewart (February 4, 1916 - October 25, 1995) was a English poet noted for his light verse.Gavin Ewart, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Web, Jan. 11, 2014. Life Ewart was born in London and educated at the prestigious Wellington College before entering Christ's College, Cambridge where he received a B.A. in 1937 and an M.A. in 1942. He is best known for contributing to Geoffrey Grigson's ''New Verse at the age of 17. After active service as a Royal Artillery officer during World War II, he worked in publishing and with the British Council before becoming an advertising copywriter in 1952. Career From the age of 17, when his poetry was first printed in Geoffrey Grigson's New Verse, he acquired a reputation for wit and accomplishment through such works as "Phallus in Wonderland" and Poems and Songs, which appeared in 1939 and was his first collection. The Second World War disrupted his development as a poet, however, and he published no further volumes until "Londoners" of 1964, though he did write the English lyrics for the 'World Song' of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. From 1964 he produced many collections, which included The Gavin Ewart Show (1971), No Fool like an Old Fool (1976), All My Little Ones (1978), The Ewart Quarto (1984), and Penultimate Poems (1989). The Collected Ewart: 1933-1980 (1980) was supplemented in 1991 by Collected Poems: 1980-1990. As an editor he produced numerous anthologies, including the Penguin Book of Light Verse (1980). Writing The intelligence and casually flamboyant virtuosity with which Ewart framed his often humorous commentaries on human behaviour made his work invariably entertaining and interesting. The irreverent eroticism for which his poetry is noted resulted in W H Smith's banning of his "The Pleasures of the Flesh" (1966) from their shops. Recognition Ewart's life and poetry are the subject of a book titled Civil Humor: The poetry of Gavin Ewart by Stephen W. Delchamps (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2002). Awards * Cholmondeley Award, 1971 * Michael Braude Award for Light Verse, 1991. Publications Poetry *''Poems and Songs''. London: Fortune Press, 1939. *''Londoners''. London: Heinemann, 1964. *''Throwaway Lines'' (illustrated by Roy Lewis). London: Keepsake Press, 1964. *''Two Children: Poems'' (illustrated by Roy Lewis). London: Keepsake Press, 1966. *''Pleasures of the Flesh''. London: Alan Ross, 1966. *''The Deceptive Grin of the Gravel Porters''. London: Alan Ross, 1968. *''Twelve Apostles''. Belfast: Ulsterman, 1970. *''The Gavin Ewart Show: Poems''. London: Trigram Press, 1971. *''The Select Party: A poem'' (illustrated by Arthur Boyd). London: Keepsake Press, 1972. *''Be My Guest! Poems''. London: Trigram Press, 1975. *''Penguin Modern Poets 25'' (by Gavin Ewart; Zulfikar Ghose; B S Johnson). Harmondsworth, UK, & Baltimore, MD: Penguin, 1975. *''No Fool Like an Old Fool''. London: Gollancz, 1976. *''The First Eleven: A collection of poems''. Hatch End, UK: Poet & Printer, 1977. *''Or Where a Young Penguin Lies Screaming''. London: Gollancz, 1977. *''All My Little Ones: The shortest poems of Gavin Ewart''. London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1978. *''The Collected Ewart, 1933-1980''. London: Hutchinson, 1980. *''The New Ewart: Poems, 1980-1982''. London: Hutchinson, 1982. *''More Short Ones: Poems''. London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1982. *''Capital Letters''. Oxford, UK: Sycamore Press, 1983. *''Poetry Supplement, Winter 1984'' (pamphlet). London: Poetry Book Society, 1984. *''The Ewart Quarto''. London: Hutchinson, 1984. *''Told of the Existence of an Antique Shop Run by Gavina Ewart''. Osford, UK: Sycamore Press, 1984. *''A Cluster of Clerihews''. Leamington Spa, UK: Sixth Chamber Press, 1985. *''The Young Pobble's Guide to His Toes''. London: Hutchinson, 1985. *''The Gavin Ewart Show: Selected poems, 1939-1985''. Cleveland, OH: Bits Press, 1986. *''Nine New Poems''. Cleveland, OH: Bits Press, 1986. *''Late Pickings''. London: Hutchinson, 1987. *''Selected Poems, 1933-1988''. New York: New Directions, 1988. *''Penultimate Poems''. London: Hutchinson, 1989. *''Colleced Poems, 1980-1990''. London: Hutchinson, 1991. *''85 Poems''. London: Hutchinson, 1993. *''Selected Poems, 1933-1993''. London: Hutchinson, 1996. Juvenile *''Like It or Not'' (illustrated by Ronald Ferns). London: Bodley Head, 1982. *''The Learnèd Hippopotamus: Poems conveying useful information about animals, ordinary and extraordinary'' (illustrated by Ronald Ferns). London: Beaver, 1988. *''Caterpillar Stew: A feast of animal poems''. London: Hutchinson, 1990. Edited *''Forty Years On: An anthology of school songs''. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1969. *Philip Larkin, Selected Poems (pamphlet). London: British Council, 1972. *''The Batsford Book of Children's Verse''. London: Batsford, 1976. *''New Poems, 1977-1978: A P.E.N. anthology of contemporary poetry''. London: Hutchinson, 1977. *''The Penguin Book of Light Verse''. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1980; London: Allen Lane, 1980. *''Other People's Clerihews'' (illustrated by Nicola Jennings). Oxford, UK, & New York: Oxford University Press, 1983. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Gavin Ewart, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Jan. 11, 2014. See also *List of British poets References External links ;Poems *Gavin Ewart in PN Review: "The Quiet Ones", "The Early Love Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson", "A Memorial Service in a South London Crematorium" *Gavin Ewart (1916-1995): 7 poems ;Audio / video *Gavin Ewart at The Poetry Archive *Gavin Ewart at the Children's Poetry Archive *Gavin Ewart at the Writer's Almanac ;About *Gavin Ewart in the Encyclopædia Britannica * Obituary: Gavin Ewart by Anthony Thwaite in The Independent ;Etc. * Category:1916 births Category:1995 deaths Category:English poets Category:Old Wellingtonians Category:Royal Artillery officers Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:Cholmondeley Award winners Category:20th-century poets Category:Poets Category:English-language poets Category:Humorous poets